Making a difference

Work is not about being busy. We can all do that. Work should make a worthwhile difference. I think of it as unusually useful work. Work that delivers more impact than usual, on things that matter to you.

We’re asked to do unusually useful work all the time, but we tend to give it different labels: to deliver, improve, change and innovate. We create strategies, systems, solutions and plans for these things, but we don’t pay enough attention to how we bring them to life – how we turn intentions into impact in a changing world.

As technology makes more things possible, work is even more about human conversations, where we make sense, create choices, take decisions, design solutions and make progress.

We have more conversations, in more ways now, than ever before. But they often don’t move us forward with the pace, clarity and alignment that we need. It’s about time we all got better at making them unusually useful. It starts here.

“We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused. Change always starts with confusion; cherished interpretations must dissolve to make way for what’s new.”Margaret J. Wheatley

Making new sense

Leading ourselves

It’s a busy, noisy world. Changes stretch us all into new territory. Life then gets messy, because we like to make sense of it using patterns (filters, stories, habits), and patterns don’t always fit the situation.

Using patterns to make sense is efficient, but we make assumptions very quickly, and in a fast moving world that’s a problem. We need more useful and systematic ways to handle our reactions and make new sense of things.

Connecting others

And it’s not enough to do it alone. Useful work needs people to connect and collaborate, but we don’t handle our differences well. We can collide opinions, navigate tensions and produce unusually useful results, but it takes attention and practice to do it well in shifting teams and relationships.

I’ve been exploring, experimenting and sharing this for 20+ years now. There’s a lot of research and practice out there to help us perform and get creative under pressure. To handle new territory. And the same core principles keep showing up. Smart ways to handle situations, other people and yourself. Let me show you how they work.

Making contact

My name is Alan Arnett. I’m a seasoned thinking partner and coach for people who want to do unusually useful work. I show you how to have joined up conversations that help you make sense, create choices, take decisions, design solutions and make progress, however busy and messy life seems.

Contact me to ask about:

Swapping ideas over coffee.

Events, workshops or talks for large groups.

A chat to discuss challenges you are facing.

Reviews, where I sit in with you and your team to see you working. Then we agree the focus and where to start.

A coaching package with regular sessions over 6 months, for you or your team.

Tailored solutions for when you merge or partner with other businesses.

You can connect with me below, using the contact form, Twitter or LinkedIn.

“All change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about.”Margaret J. Wheatley

‘Legal’ stuff

You probably know this already, but just to be clear. The views stated on this site are my own and no-one else’s. Even when I reference other people and their books and models, what I’m writing is my interpretation of their thinking, and if you’d like to know more I’d encourage everyone to check out the original sources. And, for completeness sake, I’ve worked for a lot of organisations over the years, either as an employee or as a consultant. This blog is not a reference to, or a reflection on, any of them, past, present or future. It’s just me thinking out loud :-)

The Exploration Habit Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales, Company No 9004486.

Registered office is 20-22 Wenlock Rd, London N1 7GU

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